Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' loving kisses

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Photos:Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' kisses

Oscar Wilde's grave saved from kisses – The tomb of Oscar Wilde at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris has been renovated and surrounded by a protective glass screen after it was damaged by fans' lipstick kisses.

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Photos:Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' kisses

Oscar Wilde's grave saved from kisses – Irish-born author Oscar Wilde was buried in a pauper's grave when he died, bankrupt, in Paris in 1900. His body was later moved to Pere Lachaise, and his tomb marked with a memorial by sculptor Jacob Epstein.

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Photos:Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' kisses

Oscar Wilde's grave saved from kisses – The monument, in the shape of a flying Assyrian-style angel, has been damaged over the years by grafitti -- and by someone who chopped off its genitals in the early 1960s.

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Photos:Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' kisses

Oscar Wilde's grave saved from kisses – After it was given 'listed' status in 1995, the amount of grafitti on the memorial reduced, but instead fans took to kissing the stone. Grease in the lipstick caused serious damage.

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Photos:Oscar Wilde's grave saved from fans' kisses

Oscar Wilde's grave saved from kisses – The tomb has now been painstakingly cleaned and restored, and a screen erected around it to protect it from fans' attentions.

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The monument, by sculptor Jacob Epstein, is now surrounded by a glass screen

Writer's grandson among those present at unveiling on 111th anniversary of Wilde's death

For decades, fans of Oscar Wilde have paid tribute to the Irish writer by leaving kisses on his tomb at Paris's famed Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

But years of greasy lipstick smears have badly damaged the memorial, a stone angel designed by modernist sculptor Jacob Epstein.

Now the monument has been painstakingly cleaned and restored -- and surrounded by a glass barrier to protect it from the makeup-laden pecks of passers-by.

The freshly renovated sculpture was unveiled -- on the 111th anniversary of Wilde's death -- by his grandson, Merlin Holland, and British actor Rupert Everett.

Ireland's arts and heritage minister, Dinny McGinley, said the occasion was "an opportunity to celebrate anew the life and works of one of Ireland's great modern writers, Oscar Wilde, who gave generously of his genius to the entire world."

Wilde, the dandyish author, poet and playwright, wrote "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Importance of Being Earnest," in London in the 1880s and 1890s.

He moved to France in 1897, living there in self-imposed exile after serving a two-year hard labor prison sentence for gross indecency following a trial which scandalized Victorian society.

"His last few years were very sad," said Donald Mead, Chairman of the Oscar Wilde Society. "But there is always the sense that he was able to rise above his misfortunes, to remain buoyant and happy.

"His letters say a lot about his lack of money, but they are also very entertaining, full of amusing anecdotes and stories. They paint a picture of someone who was down, but certainly not out -- though of course he was 'out' in the modern sense."

He died penniless in Paris on November 30, 1900, aged just 46, and was given a 'sixth class' burial outside the city. His remains were moved to Pere Lachaise years later.

Epstein's sculpture for the site was unveiled in 1914, and has long been a site of pilgrimage for Wilde's fans. In the early 1960s, one visitor hacked off the angel's genitals, and the grave has been plagued by graffiti for many years.

The graffiti was cleaned off in the 1990s when the tomb was listed as a historic monument, but despite a sign asking visitors not to deface it, the 'tributes' have continued, with ink giving way to lipstick.

Experts fear that if the tradition continues, the sculpture may be damaged beyond repair.

"The grease base of the lipstick penetrates the stone and long after the coloring pigments have faded, a grease 'shadow' is still visible," Paris's Irish Cultural Centre said in a statement.

"The tomb is close to being irreparably damaged; each cleaning has degraded some of the stone surface and rendered it more porous and has subsequently necessitated a more drastic cleaning."

Mead said he hoped those who made the pilgrimage to the cemetery in future would pay tribute to Wilde in a less destructive manner.

"It has reached the point of no return really," he told CNN. "There has been wanton vandalism, destruction. Now the screen is up, hopefully people will go and look, and if they feel the need to do something, they will leave a note, or some flowers -- there's no harm in that."